Shore Excursions on Azamara Journey to vietnam and thailand

[Kayt0]

Anyone done any of the shore excursions - are they worth doing or better to do private tours ?

[GrandmaJ]

We just returned from B2B Indonesia/Vietnam on the Journey and found that ALL of the ship's excursions that we took were amazing! We saw so many interesting things, and went so many places that I do not think you would have time to do on a private excursions. They have done the resesearch for you/make sure you eat in safe places and are well looked after 100% of the time. Definitely recommend them!

[Ithikan]

Thanks GrandmaJ, sounds like you had a wonderful cruise. Regarding Vietnam, can you tell me how large, on average, your ships tour groups were? 10 passengers? 20? Again, thanks.

[shedridt]

Did your cruise include this option? If not, which excursions did you find particularly good in Vietnam? Thanks.

[pickypicky]

We were on the Singapore to HK cruise last winter, which stopped in at Bangkok and 3 ports in Vietnam. While we enjoyed the 2 Azamara excursions that we took (primarily because of time restraints, to ensure that the ship wouldn't sail without us!), and they were nice as large bus tours go, we truly enjoyed the one on one experience of a private guide and driver. It saves so much time to be dropped off at the sites and then have a driver waiting to pick up you and your guide when you're done. You can cover a lot more territory that way. Also, we found the guides in both Bangkok and Vietnam to be extremely reasonably priced, in fact, a downright bargain.

[ikelmay]

For once we took the Azamara tours on our recent Asia trip, and they were a mixed bag. Some were enjoyable, but I think if I'd had more time it would have been better to research and taken private tours. The Vietnam tours were better than the floating market trip in Bangkok, which in my opinion was a dud - it could have been so much better.

 

We enjoyed the Hoi An tour and had fun on the Mekong Delta excursion, although partly because it was slightly bizarre and felt like something out of the Magical Mystery Tour.

[little britain]

Anyone done any of the shore excursions - are they worth doing or better to do private tours ?

Not sure of your ports but we did:..

Hoi An - on your own with the ship - purely an exercise to get to the town. It did take us via a marble shop which was annoying and wasted time in that most gorgous little town.

HCMC- private tour for 2 days with Zoom...Fantastic

Bangkok - private tour with Tong for 2 days ....More than Fantastic

 

 

You can find my review here ...http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=81608 ....hope it helps.

[saracenman]

We were on the Singapore to HK cruise last winter, which stopped in at Bangkok and 3 ports in Vietnam. While we enjoyed the 2 Azamara excursions that we took (primarily because of time restraints, to ensure that the ship wouldn't sail without us!), and they were nice as large bus tours go, we truly enjoyed the one on one experience of a private guide and driver. It saves so much time to be dropped off at the sites and then have a driver waiting to pick up you and your guide when you're done. You can cover a lot more territory that way. Also, we found the guides in both Bangkok and Vietnam to be extremely reasonably priced, in fact, a downright bargain.

 

 

Hi

 

We are booked on the Journey Nov 25th Singapore to HK and very interested in the private guides information- do you have any email addresses etc for these guides so we could follow up- would be much appreciated

[Jancruz]

I also have guides for that area as I have been there 1/2 dozen times and gone private each time..the people in Asia are WONDERFUL and love Americans (with the exception of South Korea) I will never go there again..

Jancruz1

[saracenman]

I also have guides for that area as I have been there 1/2 dozen times and gone private each time..the people in Asia are WONDERFUL and love Americans (with the exception of South Korea) I will never go there again..

Jancruz1

 

Thanks very much would be very grateful if you could send details to my email: anthonyhblake@btinternet.com - many thanks

[little britain]

Hi

 

We are booked on the Journey Nov 25th Singapore to HK and very interested in the private guides information- do you have any email addresses etc for these guides so we could follow up- would be much appreciated

 

Zoom - http://saigonprivatetour.com/wp/?page_id=39

 

Tong - http://www.tourwithtong.com/ Insist on Tong herself if you can and tell her Fat Gary sent you....;)

[saracenman]

many thanks will follow through

[luv2ski2]

Hi

 

We are booked on the Journey Nov 25th Singapore to HK and very interested in the private guides information- do you have any email addresses etc for these guides so we could follow up- would be much appreciated

 

We are also booked on that sailing of The Journey and looking for one or two couples to take private tours with. Have you booked any private tours yet?

[pickypicky]

You will probably have more luck finding others to share a tour on the roll call for your cruise, but I notice that someone has already posted links to a couple of tour companies. Didn't know we were allowed to do that, but since it's out there, thought I'd reinforce that we had three days with Tours With Tong and it was fantastic...they were always on time in a super clean late model vehicle, our guide had us past the long entry lines and into the sites, and the driver was waiting when we exited...most expedient use of time. And the price was great. I wouldn't do it any other way. P.S. if you have the time, take the tour out to the fisherman's stilt house and have the Thai lunch cooked just for you. One of the most memorable vacation experiences we have had:)

[Royalcot]

Thanks for all the posts that help to plan our cruise!

 

Questions:

1. Where do ports dock in Ho Chi Min and Bangkok? Distance to these cities from port?

2. Has anyone done Ankor Wat from Bangkok?

3. How did you contact private tours? Which ones would you recommend?

4. Does Azamara offer any "off the beaten path" or are they typical bus shore excursions?

5. What is the average price for shore excursions in Vietnam?

6. Would you recommend Azamara over Holland America? Why? Is it just because of size and itinerary? Would you consider them similar quality?

7. Azamara is offering either upgrade of cabin or U$S 1000 on board credit as a special promotion. Can the onboard credit be used for shore excursions?

 

Thanks again

[Lovecats50]

My husband and I have booked the Jan. 5, 2015 sailing from HK to Singapore visiting Vietnam, Bangkok and Singapore, so sounds very similar to yours. I'm wondering if you have names of guides that you used (I agree, so much better to see a country with a guide!), as well as recommendations on what to see, do, eat, etc.! Thanks very much! PS: Did you enjoy the cruise? Our first time to Asia.

 

 

 

 

We were on the Singapore to HK cruise last winter, which stopped in at Bangkok and 3 ports in Vietnam. While we enjoyed the 2 Azamara excursions that we took (primarily because of time restraints, to ensure that the ship wouldn't sail without us!), and they were nice as large bus tours go, we truly enjoyed the one on one experience of a private guide and driver. It saves so much time to be dropped off at the sites and then have a driver waiting to pick up you and your guide when you're done. You can cover a lot more territory that way. Also, we found the guides in both Bangkok and Vietnam to be extremely reasonably priced, in fact, a downright bargain.

[pickypicky]

First let me say that we absolutely loved our trip. It was our first vacation there as well, and we found the Azamara cruise to be the ideal way to see the countries, providing the security of the ship as home base and the luxury of overnights in ports so as to get a good sense of the culture, etc.

We used Mrs. Ha in Vietnam...I think her business is named Vietland Discovery. In Bangkok, we used Tours With Tong. I would recommend both...they were prompt, informative, knowledgeable, spoke excellent English and had very nice, clean, late model vehicles. We took Azamara's tours to Hanoi, Halong Bay cruise, and Mekong River cruise. There was a high speed Mekong River boat tour that I wanted to take, but the timing was really tight and I felt uncomfortable about it. However, if you have time, I'd look into it. The junk boat used for the Halong Bay cruise was run down...I think you might do better on your own, especially with help from contributors to these boards. We took it because the price was good with the half off pricing at the time. And, the Hanoi tour was a big bus tour with a lot of time spent herding, but they did take us for a nice lunch. I now know that I will always take the private tours when possible. One caveat: our trip was two years ago...I can't really vouch for the tour guides I used, but am sure that you will research them yourself.

Have a great trip...I envy you, and hope to return some day.

Oh, also should mention that we had a fabulous day on a walking tour with Ski Yeo of Big Foot Tours in Hong Kong. Great way to spend one day there. HIGHLY recommend.

[pickypicky]

Lovecats 50, forgot to address eating out. In Saigon, we were directed to the Temple Club, but we mistakenly ended up in the same building at an open air restaurant with braziers in the tables...no English on the menu, and very little English spoken by staff...a true experience. Sorry I can't recall the name, but we had fun. In Bangkok, our guide took us to a restaurant on the river and helped us order. The highlight, though, was the dinner at the fisherman's stilt house...Tours with Tong offered it as an add-on and we jumped at the chance. One of many incredible and memorable experiences on this trip. Bon Appetit!

[Sanatee]

First let me say that we absolutely loved our trip. It was our first vacation there as well, and we found the Azamara cruise to be the ideal way to see the countries, providing the security of the ship as home base and the luxury of overnights in ports so as to get a good sense of the culture, etc.

We used Mrs. Ha in Vietnam...I think her business is named Vietland Discovery. In Bangkok, we used Tours With Tong. I would recommend both...they were prompt, informative, knowledgeable, spoke excellent English and had very nice, clean, late model vehicles. We took Azamara's tours to Hanoi, Halong Bay cruise, and Mekong River cruise. There was a high speed Mekong River boat tour that I wanted to take, but the timing was really tight and I felt uncomfortable about it. However, if you have time, I'd look into it. The junk boat used for the Halong Bay cruise was run down...I think you might do better on your own, especially with help from contributors to these boards. We took it because the price was good with the half off pricing at the time. And, the Hanoi tour was a big bus tour with a lot of time spent herding, but they did take us for a nice lunch. I now know that I will always take the private tours when possible. One caveat: our trip was two years ago...I can't really vouch for the tour guides I used, but am sure that you will research them yourself.

Have a great trip...I envy you, and hope to return some day.

Oh, also should mention that we had a fabulous day on a walking tour with Ski Yeo of Big Foot Tours in Hong Kong. Great way to spend one day there. HIGHLY recommend.

 

We did this cruise in Feb 13 and also loved it. Completely agree with Ski and Bigfoot tours in HK....she is a fabulous young lady and gave us a great 4 hr walking tour with lunch. With her help and the excellent HK transit system, we did 4 more days on our own. We did our own Halong Bay cruise. Did one Az tour in DaNang and one with Ann Tours. At the time Az was 50% discount and their tour was okay! but Ann was much better. Mrs Ha was too expensive and did not respond well. In Saigon we did the Az overview of Saigon, and the Mekong Delta....both were very good. In Bangkok, we the first afternoon on our own using the Az free shuttle and the sky train. Then we did 2 wonderful days with BKK tours and their guide Oi. She was fantastic. We had tried to get Tong, but she was unresponsive and couldn't have been better than BKK. In Ko Samoi we hired Mr Samoi to drive us around the island with good sight seeing stops and excellent lunch. We did Singapore on our own using the HoHo bus routes.

[pickypicky]

Agree that Tong was difficult to stay in touch with and have noticed that others have had problems over the last few months. Since it has been two years, I can't speak for her now, but can say that we could not have asked for more at the time. We also did the Hoi An on your own with Azamara, and I have previously mentioned on these boards that, given the opportunity, I would not repeat it. Too much time wasted that could have been spent in Hoi An... we had a great lunch and did a lot of shopping there...what a picturesque and evocative place.

[2fromTO]

On the Journey right now. In halong bay. We had excellent private tours in Bangkok with BKK tours and with Saigon River Express in Saigon.

[AJCM]

Last year we thoroughly enjoyed the Prasart Museum, in Bangkok and the Mekong Delta trip - both most memorable. In our view the latter is a must do. In Halong Bay we did the ship's excursion. The boat was certainly run-down but it appeared most others were too. It was a wonderful excursion and long enough. The private ones are much longer, include lunch and obviously travel further but for us the ship's excursion showed us enough of Halong Bay (and you travel through the archipelago when arriving and departing.

 

Our first time in Ho Chi we did the general Ho Chi Minh City tour. We thought this wasn't much but if you haven't been to the city before (and especially if you haven't been to Asia) the city can be quite overwhelming. In this context, it's a very good tour to get acclimatised. In HCM the ship docks right in the city - about a 10 minute bus trip to the Rex Hotel which is in a very good central location (10 minute walk to the market). In Bangkok, the ship docks at an industrial port, about a 20 minute shuttle bus trip to one of the major shopping complexes.

[WARD801]

My wife and I recently returned from the Jan 6, 15 day Singapore to Hong Kong cruise on Journey - wonderful trip. We booked all of our excursions privately. These included an overnight from Bangkok to Angkor Wat, day tour of the Mekong Delta, and an overnight on a luxury Chinese Junk on Halong Bay. All of these arrangements were made ahead of time on-line, including flights and visas into Cambodia and special arrangements to catch up with the Junk at Halong because the overnights depart too early relative to our docking. Our experiences were all first class, private (with professional tour guides and drivers) and were significantly cheaper than Azamara's excursions. For example our trip to Angkor Wat, coincidentally on the same flights as the Azamara excursion, cost less than $1000 total for my wife and I when Azamara charged $1500 per person. The highlight of our trip was the overnight on Halong Bay and Azamara didn't even offer that as an option because of the timing conflict (we docked at noon and the overnight boats all leave between 12:30 and 1 due to their timing for customers coming from Hanoi). I made the suggestion to Azamara to book entire boats so they could offer overnights. One final point, and with all respect to Azamara since we LOVED the cruise, is to not rely on their concierge - the one on our cruise did not know the destinations, private tour options, or even how to negotiate for reasonable taxi fares. My best resource was Trip Advisor ahead of time.

[shedridt]

We DID take advantage of the ship's tour to Angkor Wat & were very very pleased with that experience. We stayed at the Raffles Angkor Wat on our excursion to Siem Reap & if we had one regret it was that we did not get to fully enjoy that wonderful hotel. The entertainment in the evening was superb, as was the huge buffet/barbeque, & the ruins of Angkor Wat & Angkor Thom are beyond description.

 

The great problem with this excursion is that it should be two full days - with exploration of the ruins during the cool morning hours in two mornings, interrupted by afternoons at the pool. But there it is - time is limited & one does what one can.

 

The Raffles Angkor Wat is a beautiful - beyond beautiful! - hotel. An experience in itself.

[lorene1]

My wife and I recently returned from the Jan 6, 15 day Singapore to Hong Kong cruise on Journey - wonderful trip. We booked all of our excursions privately. These included an overnight from Bangkok to Angkor Wat, day tour of the Mekong Delta, and an overnight on a luxury Chinese Junk on Halong Bay. All of these arrangements were made ahead of time on-line, including flights and visas into Cambodia and special arrangements to catch up with the Junk at Halong because the overnights depart too early relative to our docking. Our experiences were all first class, private (with professional tour guides and drivers) and were significantly cheaper than Azamara's excursions. For example our trip to Angkor Wat, coincidentally on the same flights as the Azamara excursion, cost less than $1000 total for my wife and I when Azamara charged $1500 per person. The highlight of our trip was the overnight on Halong Bay and Azamara didn't even offer that as an option because of the timing conflict (we docked at noon and the overnight boats all leave between 12:30 and 1 due to their timing for customers coming from Hanoi). I made the suggestion to Azamara to book entire boats so they could offer overnights. One final point, and with all respect to Azamara since we LOVED the cruise, is to not rely on their concierge - the one on our cruise did not know the destinations, private tour options, or even how to negotiate for reasonable taxi fares. My best resource was Trip Advisor ahead of time.

 

Hi Ward801

My husband and I just booked B2B cruises on Quest for Jan 5-Feb3 2015 including Vietnam and Thailand, as well as Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore. We appreciate the ship's tours, but are pretty active and like to see as much as we can. I'll try to organize a small group via the roll call, but want to research options first.

We are new to Azamara but veteran CC travelers and prefer private tours when possible. I'm particularly interested in your providers for Angkor Wat, Halong Bay and Mekong Delta.

Can you give me their contact info?

 

Any assistance you can offer is GREATLY appreciated! :D

Lori